>> there have been shocking moments in the trump presidency, so many that it's hard to count, but if there was some kind of accounting for all the shocking moments in the trump presidency, this one, if we have the video, would certainly be near the top of the list. >> just now, president putin denied having anything to do with the election interference in 2016. ever u.s. intelligence agency has concluded that russia did. what, who, my first question for you, sir, who do you believe? >> they think it's russia. i have president putin. he said it's not russia or. i will say this, i don't see any reason why it would be. i will tell you president putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today. >> the president of the united states of america, donald trump, standing alongside russian president vladimir putin, aligning himself with russian claims over u.s. intelligence. denying what everyone at that point you to be true, russia interfered in the 2016 election. throughout his time in office, trump denied and downplayed, excused russian interference in americas elections. he called the investigation into that interference a hoax, a witch hunt, over and over again. mr. trump is set to be on trial for his own efforts to overturn the 2020 election, and his baseless claims of the election being stolen. trump's new defense, in that case, appears to be that the court should believe his claims about a stolen election, and the reason the court should believe the election was stolen is because of russian interference. i am not joking. this is from trump's lawyers latest motion in the federal elections case. between january 2019, and at least 2020, parties reportedly linked to russia's foreign intelligence service perpetrated with the fcc described as the worst cyber security incidents in history. on january 6th, 2021, the u. s. the cybersecurity agency deemed this threat poses a grave risk to the federal government and state local tribal and territorial governments. . just for a second, imagine being trump's lawyer, and going before the court to say, with a straight face, your client, donald trump, was just really concerned about russian election interference, and it was russia's fault, and not trump's, that certain americans distrusted the results of the 2020 election. that argument is part of a pair of new motions from trump's lawyers, demanding that the american government turnover thousands of documents that the defense believes will help trump prove his case in court. the russian interference stuff is the tip of the iceberg here. trump's lawyers wants the government to turn over everything they have on federal efforts to investigate fraud in the 2020 election. they want the government to turn over anything they have regarding undercover agents at the capitol on january 6th. thereby promoting the baseless theory that the violence on january 6th may have resulted from a failed sting operation by the fbi. the defense wants any documents or information supporting the baseless conspiracy that joe biden pressured merrick garland to indict donald trump. the defense wants to know the justice department pressured former vice president mike pence to change his testimony to prosecutors. the defense wants communications between the justice department and the biden family, including hunter biden, who has absolutely nothing to do with this case, except for the fact that republicans apparently like saying his name a lot. it seems obvious what trump is trying to do here. number one, bury this judge, judge chutkan, in paper, in an attempt to delay this trial. number two, re-litigate the big lie and so further mistrust in our democracy. three, dig up as much dirt as possible during the discovery process, and he was a during the campaign season. as trump's lawyers proceed in that three pronged effort, we are getting new evidence that trump, himself, knew it was all a lie. new excerpts from liz cheney's forthcoming book revealed that just two days after the 2020 election, republican leader kevin mccarthy told cheney that trump knew he lost the election. he knows it's over, mccarthy reportedly told cheney. he needs to go through all the stages of grief. that same day, that same day, kevin mccarthy went on fox news and said this. >> president trump won this election. everyone who is listening, do not be quiet. do not be silent about this. we cannot allow this to happen before our very eyes. >> donald trump forced to the republican party to go along with his election lies, even when he allegedly knew that he had lost the election. now he is going to attempt that same strategy in a federal courtroom. joining me now is melissa murray, professor at and what you law school, and co-host of the strict scrutiny podcast. also with me, former missouri senator and current msnbc political analyst, a great claire mccaskill. first, melissa, from a legal perspective, let me get your assessment of this request. 59 requests from the defense, 70 pages of legal motions, 300 pages of supporting exhibits asking for material that prosecutors don't even necessarily have been their position. >> as you said in the opening, alex, this is a long shot for donald trump, again there are multiple strategies that are being pursued here. the first, principally, is to slow judge chutkan down by inundating her with paper. as a general matter, defendants can ask for material that is relevant to their defense. they can't ask for the world. in situations like this, it comes down to whether or not the prosecution has withheld information that would be relevant to mounting a vigorous defense. here, some of this seems far field, certainly the materials on hunter biden that were requested do not seem relevant to the issues at play in the january 6th hearing. delay is the name of the game. they're also playing to another cord. that is the court of public opinion. you are right in that a lot of this is to sow the seeds of disinformation, and the idea the election was stolen in 2020, and the 2024 election is similarly imperiled. >> clare, the thing that almost made my head explode was the notion donald trump is deeply concerned about russian election interference. it defies explanation. is anybody out there to be convinced that joe biden was vladimir putin's pick for president in 2020, especially given the state of affairs between the two of them now? >> now. no one is buying that, except that group of people. somewhere around 20 to 25% of america has decided to believe whatever he says. he could say the most outlandish, outrageous, and has said the most outlandish and outrageous things, and they will believe it. i've got to tell you, looking at these cases, and i'd love melissa's take on this, it makes me dizzy. we have civil cases. we have civil cases in front of the d. c. circuit, and have been there for over a year after they were argued, and had not been decided. they touch on issues he is bringing up now. we have other civil cases against trump. we have criminal cases against trump. both federal and state level. all of this is swirling. it makes me dizzy. i'm a lawyer, it makes me dizzy. all of the cases out there, all of the motions are being filed. candidly, olivia peels that will be possible. i would like the respected judges on the bench of these cases, especially those in the appellate court, what could be their excuse for not deciding donald trump's appeal on the issue of immunity in civil trials? why in the world what that circuit be taking a year to decide a case? it's way outside the norm. >> we spent quite a bit of time talking about that yesterday, and the way these pretrial motions have, and beyond, these appeals, have a way of, potentially, really slowing down the timetable, even for an aggressive judge, like judge chutkan, which begs the question, melissa, i assume there is a lot in this request from the defense side is laughable. -- also assume there is something in there that has some merit that could throw gum in the works, if you will. do you have that sense? what might that be? what might be the implications of an extended discovery process here? >> that's exactly right. some of this is going to be outlandish. some of the material has been requested, we don't even know if the department of justice has that in its possession. it could be part of the government scholars of materials, but not things that are easily accessible to the prosecution, and therefore easily turned over to the defense. a good judge, a diligent judge, judge chutkan is a good and diligent judge, is going to have to sift through and separate the wheat from the chaff, and that will be time consuming. this is a case that was meant to be lean, mean, and to move expeditiously. this will slow it down. we have the mar-a-lago case, which already seems to be slowed down because judge cannon doesn't seem to be moving in an expeditious fashion. we have the case in georgia, which is slow-moving because it's so an wielding with so many defendants. of course, the hush money case which was always, perhaps, the most minimal in terms of legal jeopardy that donald trump wasn't, and the nature of charges themselves. these are the medias cases, and the ones that are most likely to be slowed down by all of these litigation and lincoln's. >> and there is the question, as melissa artfully points, out the ways in which this could derail the actual trials. there is this meta fact of trump relitigating the big lie. once again, an election year, claire. he, in many ways, poisoned the groundwater for american democracy. it looks like he is going to take. another turn at that, if you will, on doing the same thing all over again, to use many mixed metaphors. when you hear his intention is to drum up some sort of phantom evidence that the election was stolen, once again, how concerned does that make you as far as the broader american project? >> if there was factual evidence that this election was somehow tempered with, or stolen, we would've heard about it long before now. that is why i think public trials, and public hearings, and hunter biden was smart to say let's do my testimony in public. every time they tried to trot out something that was going to be damning, whether it was the biden family, or how the election was conducted, they failed. they failed miserably. you know why? they don't have the evidence. there is no evidence. if there were, all the cases that have already been decided it would have been decided differently. he may try to talk about the big lie in these cases, but there's a big difference between talking about it, outside of court, and even referring to it in pleadings. lawyers have to be careful about what theories they put forward. if they know they're not truthful, they could get in trouble. obviously, if the guy that hangs out at mar-a-lago takes the stand, he has to be careful. so, this is not as easy as it looks for him to try to just throw out the big lie and a defense. >> let's, london winded of comments judge beryl howell made, i believe it was yesterday. she's a sitting judge, a federal judge, overseen a number of january 6th cases. she said, it was not in a judicial context, but at an event this week, she quoted heather cox richardson, the boston historian who writes and who know buff that america is at a crossroads, teetering on the brink of authoritarianism. she echoes the sentiment that big lies are springboards for authoritarians. the timing on that quote and this insight into trump's strategy here is chilling. i wonder how unusual it is for a sitting judge to make remarks like that in a moment when a number of judges, in unrelated cases are saying trump either incited insurrection, or is guilty of a federal crime. >> it wasn't coincidental that judge howell made these remarks. it was made to a group of women lawyers who's receiving an award. lisa monaco received an award, and loretta lynch presented those awards. she was very clear that the threat of authoritarianism is not an idle threat. it is one that lies between these big lies. i am sowing the seeds of distrust around elections when we know, and trump knew, and members of the trump administration said that the election of 2020 was among the most secure in american history. it was a lie to you say that the election had been stolen from donald trump. again, this is what breeds authoritarianism. again, the 2024 election is one where, i think, american democracy very much is on the table. it's not just about the united states. we are seeing the threat of rising authoritarianism all around the world, in various countries that previously had been solid democracies. this is not an idle threat, the united states leads on these questions, and other nations will take our lead and follow it as well. >> melissa murray, claire mccaskill, thank you both for joining me tonight. i appreciate it. we have some breaking news this evening. former secretary of state henry kissinger has passed away at the age of 100. he served as america's top diplomat under president richard nixon and gerald ford. our lester holt has a look back at his life. >> thank you. nice to see you all. >> reporter: he was brilliant, ambitious, controversial, and one of the most influential secretaries of state in american history. >> i think we made further progress. >> reporter: and we kissinger served richard nixon, gerald ford, and was consulted by presidents of both parties on international issues throughout his life. >> henry kissinger has been a friend of mine. >> reporter: nixon made him a national figure, and together they reimagined u.s. foreign policy. they talked with the soviet union, relationships with -- diplomacy in the middle east. kissinger helped shape nixon's policy in vietnam, and negotiated an end to the war, famously declaring success prematurely just days before the 1972 election. >> we believe that -- pieces at hand. >> he was awarded the nobel peace prize. >> nothing has happened to me, in public life has moved me more then this award. >> reporter: though his coercive beyond, north vietnam 's late october, declined the honor. four years later, president ford awarded him the medal of freedom. he was a master of pragmatic, big picture diplomacy. he had his critics who described him as manipulative and insecure. some called him a war criminal for his role in bombing cambodia, and widening the war in vietnam. we born in germany in 1923, kissinger's jewish family fled to america as hitler rose to power. he became a u.s. citizen, served in world war ii, and earned a ph. d. at harvard where he became a professor. he caught the eye of richard nixon, who made him national security adviser, then secretary of state. the only person ever to hold both jobs simultaneously. >> there is no country in the world where it is conceivable that a man of my origins could be standing here next to the president of the united states. >> reporter: but their relationship was complicated, and white house tapes revealed that kissinger, sometimes, enabled the worst in nixon. >> it was a very curious relationship because we were not personally very close. >> reporter: the night before he resigned in disgrace, nixon asked kissinger to kneel and pray with him. >> of course it was a crushing event. i think of that evening as an experience with dignity, and it was very moving. >> reporter: kissinger was no faceless bureaucrat. he was a world renowned celebrity. >> i love your foreign accent. >> reporter: he loved the spotlight. he was even something of a pop culture icon. after leaving government, he opened his own consulting firm, remaining active and sought after for decades. at 95, eulogizing john mccain's life, kissinger sounded a wistful note about his own. >> like most people of my age, i feel a longing for what is lost, and cannot be restored. >> reporter: henry kissinger was a man of great accomplishment, and controversy. as he once told nbc's barbara walters, he had no regrets. >> if i had to do it over again, i would do it again substantially the same way, which may make me on reconstructed, maybe one reason why i'm at peace with myself. >> reporter: lester holt, nbc news, new york. henry kissinger was 100 years old. we will be right back. >> prescribed h-i-v treatment, biktarvy. biktarvy is a complete, one-pill, once-a-day treatment used for h-i-v in many people whether you're 18 or 80. with one small pill, biktarvy fights h-i-v to help you get to undetectable—and stay there whether you're just starting or replacing your current treatment. research shows that taking h-i-v treatment as prescribed and getting to and staying undetectable prevents transmitting h-i-v through sex. serious side effects can occur, including kidney problems and kidney failure. rare, life-threatening side effects include a buildup of lactic acid and liver problems. do not take biktarvy if you take dofetilide or rifampin. tell your 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[limu emu squawks.] only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ there are a quarter of a million more jobs in colorado since i've took office. that is a quarter million more people throughout this state, including in this district who could look the kids in the eye and say, honey, it is going to be okay. that was president biden speaking today at what is now the largest went tower manufacturer in the world, in public, colorado. a company that owns that plant headquartered in south korea, and used to make all of its wind towers abroad, but incentives from biden's inflation reduction act reportedly convinced this company to make it 200 million dollar investment in that plant in colorado, and creating 850 new jobs in that state. by the standard metrics, the economy under president biden, is doing great. inflation is slowing, the gdp is growing, the unemployment rate is just 3. 9%. when americans are asked about how they feel about the state of the economy, things do not seem so great. a new york times sienna poll found earlier this month that, in six key battleground states, 81% of registered voters described the state of the economy as either only fair or poor. a whopping 93% of registered voters under 30 felt the same. for this white house, that is particularly concerning because biden voters in 2020 skewed younger, and this poll was looking at younger voters in battleground states. what explains the disconnect? the odds are low that many people under 30 were watching today as biden spent 30 minutes listing the ways his administration has improved the economy. surveys shows the odds are high, young voters are getting their economic news from social media videos like these. >> heard a new term on tiktok today that made me stop in my tracks. >> we are living in the silent depression, and i'm going to explain what i mean. >> to buy a new car in 1938, would have been $860. worth about 15 grand. the average cost of a new car today is $48,000. >> new cars are on a portable, new houses are unaffordable. two new to a new place and ransom or else is unaffordable. >> how can we live through worst cost of living in wages the 1930? no politician, no media outlet, no one is talking